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13 minutes ago, Ironmandrd said:

One question that occurred to me was about the distinction between Commissions and Sketch Covers/Convention Sketches since many of the convention sketches looked as detailed as the Commissions.  

The distinction is done "at home" vs. "done on site."

So, pre-con list where the piece is ready when you get there is a commission. A piece that you asked to have done and which was completed at the show (on-site) is a convention sketch regardless of quality or cost.

My Bastian Pirate Ship (in my eyes at least) is incredible. He did it overnight at the show so a convention sketch. 

Yes, this does lead to some "quality differences" since a 10m sketch at the table isn't the same as one done in 30m or an hour in the hotel room, but ...

This meets all three criteria - I’m a Legion fan, Sherman is one of my favorite LSH artists and I don’t have a page by him, and it makes me want to go back and reread the story.  It makes me smile.

 

2) Wonder Woman # 128, pages 2 and 3 by John Byrne - Filmore W. Bedwick

I’m not a huge John Byrne fan, but I think this is a lovely image. It’s an outlier in my criteria. I don’t think of John as a WW artist, I don’t really care about the backstory, it’s just beautiful.

 

I love the image, I’m really curious as to the story. I’ve never heard of Negative Burn. Guess I’ll have to correct that.

 

Classic Perez at the height of his powers on the book for which he is best known. Interesting layout, the usual 1000 characters on the page. I do want to know the story. It’s a winner.

I doubt that there is anything in Gary’s collection that I wouldn’t like to have at my house. Jerry Robinson, Batman,a host of interesting looking people. This is great.

Okay, if I were to get one Bernie Wrightson page, this might be it. Certainly, it’s in my personal top 10 of his work. I love the body language and expressions. He retold the origin quickly, succinctly, and beautifully. Wow!

 

This section is so rich in pieces that I like. Several each from Bernie and Terry Moore. I’ve never read SIP though I’ve greatly enjoyed the few bits that I’ve seen and I really enjoyed Echo and Rachel Rising. Terry is a wonderful story teller and this is a good example. 

 

I don’t know this section of the story, but I like the symmetry of the women and the use of shadow to divide the top panel. Their body language is excellent. I like the change of camera position in the next two panels and the final one is a blast!

Yeah, I’m a Terry fan. This page tells a story and poignantly. Sam is about to break - physically and mentally. The little boy is so cute and appealing. How can someone do this? I worry about Terry sometimes!

 

Howard’s use of shadows and the small panel to move the man in the tux forward are all excellent. I really like this page.

 

5) Sinister House of Secret Love by Alex Toth - Trevor Pearson

What can I say, Alex tells a great story. I love the close ups, the eyes, the expressions. This is good stuff.

 

I greatly admire many other pieces in this, e.g., the other Wrightsons, the Sean Murphy Batman, and the Mouse Guard piece. For the latter, look at the mice in the bottom. Each has a different personality expressed by their body language. Great book. Check it out.

Published: Strip Art - Criteria: Story telling, appealing image

 

Okay my first three are Carol Day strips. I can’t help it; I’m a huge fan of David Wright’s work for the first 1000 strips or so. David Wright had been a fashion artist and it shows on the strip. He does wonderful work on fabric draping. He’s wonderful with light and shadow as well and look at the hatching. Mine can be found here and my favorite of all time is linked from the Description.

 

1) Carol Day 139 by David Wright - Ronan Killack

The first panel is outstanding. I love the two near silhouettes of Carol. Her friend looking up from the bed is so natural.

 

2) Carol Day 468 by David Wright - Mark Yanko

Another wonderful use of light and shadow in the first panel. The face in the last panel is classic.

 

3) Carol Day 47 by David Wright - Mark Howland

Love Carol’s body language and the draping of her dress. Look at the hands and the turn of Carol’s head in the last panel. Lovely work.

 

4) Cisco Kid 6-21-51 by Jose Luis Salinas - Steve Kriozere

Lovely work. I’ve heard about these strips for years, but never really looked into them That may have to change.

 

5) Krazy Kat Sunday 12/26/20 by George Herriman - Jeff Singh

A wonderful example of the craziness found in that strip. I need to read my copy of the Herriman biography.

 

I thought that this was a really rich category this year.

 

 

Published/Unpublished: Commissions - Character / Artist combinations that I like or images that I really enjoy

 

1) Weird Scrooge Fantasy 29 by Don Rosa - S C

How can you go wrong with a team up of Frank Frazetta and Don Rosa? It makes me smile and fits in both of my criteria

 

2) Bigby Wolf, Boy Blue, & Fly Catcher going off on a Quest by Mark Buckingham - Leonard Richman

Fables was an all-time favorite for me and Mark Buckingham was a big reason. Three of the most interesting characters from the book are featured here by the best artist in the series. This is a winner for me.

 

3) Nightwalk (Frank and Pupshaw) by Jim Woodring - Michael Diaz

I’ve admired Woodring’s work from afar; I own nothing by him, but the images I see have always attracted em. This one is really special. 

 

4) Adam Strange by Albert Monteys - P Portillo

I doubt that this will get a lot of votes, but it really stuck with me. There’s something here that I can’t quite place. I think it’s terrific.

 

5) Detective 27 Homage by Ardian Syaf - eewwnuk 1

It was hard to pick this last spot. Eewwnuk 1’s other Batman entry is equally striking and the Cho WW and Adams Capt. Marvel are both lovely and there are many others as well. That said, I chose this one. I think it’s beautifully painted and is a striking image.

 

 

Unpublished: Sketch Covers/Convention Sketches - Criteria same as for commissions 

 

1) Batman and Catwoman by Tim Sale - Dean Abraham

Wonderful. I’ve often wanted to get something from Tim, but …

 

2) Hanami Picnic by Stan Sakai - Eltanin C

Love Stan’s work and the characters he has created. Excellent.

 

3) Who Ghost There? by Ryan Sook - Michael Rankins

Nice work by Ryan.

 

4) Antman and The Wasp by Alan Davis - Rich Cirillo

Not much to say except that Alan’s work is exceptional

 

5) Taarna by Rags Morales - Michael Rankins

Who knew Michael would buy a single character sketch! No clue who Taarna is, but I doubt that she’s ever looked better.

 

 

Unpublished/Published: Other - Images that I like

1) Vader’s Little Princess (2013) by Jeffrey Brown - John Espinoza

If you haven’t read these books, you should. Yeah, they aren’t canon, but then what is?

 

2) Vintage 1980's Shadow illustration by Howard Chaykin - John Cogan

Striking image. 

 

3) The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe book cover by Roger Hane - Comicart B

Cool to see the original art for this book. I’ve owned my copy for decades and I find the covers interesting.

 

4) Miss Lace, Male Call 1943 by Milt Caniff - Ron Soenethal

If Ron buys it, I’ll like it. Besides, how could you not like this?

 

5) Miss Lace Trio of Original Art by Milton Caniff - Tie Designs by Milt Caniff - Jeff Singh

Jeff is another whose taste I admire.

 

 

Search on his name with the Comic Art Tracker - www.comicarttracker.com

On the really minor OA relationship front, Aaron Lopresti's son got his first film credit. He animated the gills of the monster. 

Very nice Sabrina. I can't see her doing Conan, but I do enjoy Big John's granddaughter's work. Thanks for sharing.

12 hours ago, O. said:

Welcome! Here's a bit more info on acquiring OA: 

https://comicbookinvest.com/2016/12/16/original-art-collecting-102/

 

That's a hoot. I took a look to see what I could learn and find my own notes referenced. Made me laugh.

I got nothing. Piecewise scanning and merging the images in a tool like Photoshop or Visio or GraphicConverter can be done. Kind of a pain in my experience.

Another approach is to take a photograph using a camera mount while the piece is on the floor. A good camera with a fixed mount should provide a good capture.

Buy a bigger scanner (<$200) or use the office copier (free) will work for 11x17. How large are we talking about?

8 hours ago, NoFunComics said:

Hey guys title says it all hopefully I can get a few bites.

Don't we all.  Excellent book!

I would add that the Comic Art List on Yahoo groups is an interesting place to follow.

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/comicart-l/info

You also want to join so that you can setup a special CAF gallery and post in the "Best of ..." session each year. This gallery is known as your "Lowry" and is named after a late and lamented pioneer comic art collector - Bruce Lowry. You can learn more about the comicart-l here.

About as scarce as hen's teeth, but it is something I'd be interested in. 

10 hours ago, otherworldsj331 said:

I want to have an artist do a commission of a Matt Baker romance cover. Anyone have any suggestions of what artists may be best suited and willing to do this type of thing. I would prefer an artist who has been in the business for a while, but if not I would still consider him or her.

Recreation? Bruce McCorkindale does great work. You can find him here and on FB. You can find lots of examples on the CAF.

He did this for my wife's Christmas. Click to expand.

 

There's a printer/scanner in the picture? I didn't notice. I've admired the girl on the mast for sometime. Lovely work. Belated congratulations.

2 hours ago, SquareChaos said:

Considering costs of stand alones, I'm guessing a scanner isn't in my future until a new all-in-one purchase makes sense. I believe there is a flat bed scanner on some floor or other at the office - that'll be my next avenue of investigation.

Lots of copiers can scan and email. I used to do that at work.

Extremity is a wonderful book and the art is really spectacular.

48 minutes ago, Hudson said:

This sounds very much like the Mile High strategy of pricing their comics.   This is of course only my opinion.   

Year after year, Chuck seems to stay in business, regardless of his pricing.  How he stays in business is always a topic that confuses me, when the product he offers can often be easily obtained on other web sites.  

In the case of OA, however, I assume unique pieces can be priced at whatever one wants, since there is no chance of a buyer obtaining the same piece elsewhere. 

Chuck runs a lot of 50% off sales for his mailing list and to my knowledge doesn't restore comics without disclosure. 

It’s a great thread!

Posted mine in my Lowry on the CAF. Thought I'd add them here with a little commentary.

Published Covers (Unpublished covers as well)

Archie Giant Series Magazine Presents Little Archie #549 by Bob Bolling
Bolling created the first alternative Archie-verse. He wrote and drew the stories for many years and I consider it some of the finest work to come from Archie. I'm probably overly fond of folks that do both the writing and art for their books, but I think I'm justified in Bolling's case.

This cover is a typical example of his work and I really enjoy it.

 

Published Splashes, Pin-Ups

The Unwritten #2 Page 2 by Mike Carey (writer) and Peter Gross (artist)

The Unwritten is the story of a young man who may or may not be a fictional character and the massive on-going battle between reality and fiction- more or less. It’s fascinating, well-told, and beautifully illustrated. This page finds Tommy transported to a dystopia from which he wishes to quickly extract himself. I love it. There’s more an more detail to the scene as you look. Also, as Peter freely discusses, he has essential tremors and can’t draw by hand any more so I’m glad to have a page where he was at his peak. His new work is done digitally on a tablet.

Another note about this page, Peter adds the letters as a paste-up after they are done for publication because he feels they provided needed context. I really like that!

Published Interior Panel pages

None

Published Strip Art

None

 

Published/Unpublished Commissions (work artist drawn outside of conventions)

None

 

Unpublished Convention Sketches

Pirate Ship by Jeremy Bastian

If you haven't read / aren’t reading Cursed Pirate Girl, you really should. It’s gorgeous and a good story to boot. I saw Jeremy at Rose City Comic Con and he was taking a list. This is not common especially on the 2nd day of the show. I asked if he could take one more and he said, “Yes. What do you want?” I said, “A ship.” He said, “That’ll be fun. No one’s ever asked for that before.”

 

Seriously, the artist of a pirate story was never asked to do a ship? I sent him a high resolution scan of the piece and he said it would be in his next sketchbook. I was thrilled.

 

Maleficent by Walt Simonson

This isn’t mine; it’s my wife’s. However, she doesn’t have a separate CAF so I’ll put it on my “Best of” list. Kathy has a fondness for the Disney villainesses and Maleficent is number one. In this case, we were going to SDCC 2017 and IDW had  a “Dinner with Walt” available for purchase. We bought two tickets and I immediately thought “What two characters do I want?” Then I realized that Kathy might want her own piece since she knows Walt and likes his work. So, I asked. She said, “Yes, I do want to pick.”

 

After some discussion, she went with Maleficent. It’s magnificent. Note her eyes and the way he positioned the dragon to call out the parallels in the design of M as a human and as a dragon. He crushed this.

 

 

 

Published/Unpublished Other (all Published/Unpublished material which doesn’t fall into the other 6 categories (drawings, prelims, Style Guides, Rock Poster art, illustrations. etc.))

 

Wonder Woman by Jill Thompson

Here’s my entire 2017 list. It includes pieces that belong to my daughters and my wife, but which I put in my CAF because they never would.

2 hours ago, MYNAMEISLEGION said:

Anyone using this on a Mac? @Brian Peck

I use the HP Officejet 7612 on my iMac. Usually scan with Preview.

This was $250 from Thom Zahler. It's my daughter and her husband and the date is the date of their wedding. Click the image to learn more about it including seeing the cover by Thom that it was based on.

You can ask. He's easy to find on FB, but he doesn't do commissions except for charity auctions and this dinner. For the dinner, it was limited to head shots though he'd do more as you can see in my wife's Maleficent (she got the dragon, too).

He even did one that was just Mjolner and it was way cool. Who knew.

I certainly like my HP Officejet 7612. I really appreciate getting full 11x17 scans.

I think they are collectors in dealer's clothing.

3 hours ago, Rick2you2 said:

Hmmm...

I simply wanted to say that it was not my intention to create a dumping ground on the DB's. 

 

I wasn't trying to dump on them. I simply provided an example of what they do with (I hope) minimal editorial commentary and direct quotes.

I need to put together a DB Q&A. I started one once, but ...
 

1. I believe that they are really collectors in disguise. They do enough business to keep the IRS happy and buy comic art for themselves. Just my opinion.
2. They do special things to make a cover. No doubt. Here's my favorite

I'd like to preface this with that my relationship with Coollines Art has been only through e-mail and while we've never struck a deal they have always been prompt and polite.

This Curt Swan piece was sold on Heritage in 2007 -

As I understand it, the Heritage buyer sold/traded it to the Donneleys.

   Steve Donneley said:

As our web site mentions, the large center Superman figure by Curt Swan was the only original art ever created for this cover. The four side images were stats taken from images of earlier reprinted stories and were missing from the original when I bought it.

 

"The 4 side images on the 1963 annual were originally stat'ed from earlier Superman stories and were hand redrawn for this cover"

 

So, I had the missing stats redrawn and placed on the original art board in the exact position that the DC production material would have gone!

 

They "restored" the cover to its original state by re-creating stats.

   Ray Cuthbert said:

Steve's information to Alex above shows an incorrect assumption. All of the images for that cover were drawn especially for that cover by Swan & Klein. They were not stats unless they were drawn by Swan and Klein and then statted for publication purposes. The stories reprinted were not all drawn by Swan, let alone all inked by Klein. There is no way that those were stats from story panels originally. I have no idea if it was done on two separate boards, but I suspect so, since only the "statue" part was done in ink wash, to make it look distinctive.

While I would not have mounted "replacement stats" on the original Swan piece, I might have done it on an overlay.

1. People do try to "restore" art and Coollines is one place that does.
2. Proper restoration is hard.
3. Be an informed buyer
4. One man's restoration is another man's fake.